Another day at lunch and another Curbside Classic, but of a different sort. The other day I saw what looked like a hot rodded old pickup drive into the parking lot of my lunch spot. Yawn–another old pickup re-powered by Chevy. But this one looked oddly different. Clearly, those were vintage wheels. Upon closer inspection (and a chat with the owner) I discovered . . . .
A Gen-U-Wine Ford flathead V8. A better view of a Ford flathead you will not find out in the wild. The lack of a hood can’t hurt with the flathead’s well-known cooling deficiencies, either. Note the dual water pumps.
It turns out there are quite a few cars here. The owner, an active collector of cars and parts, built this one mostly from spare parts. The body is from a 1938; the engine, from a ’51 and mated to a ’49 or ’50 transmission. The bed came from a ’36, and the wheels from a ’35. The Model A radiator shell appears to be covering a slightly more modern (and much larger) Ford radiator. As for the rest of the running gear, there’s a 1959 Ranchero rear end and a front axle whose source the owner has forgotten.
The owner drives this one quite a bit, something on the order of 4,000 miles a year. He reports that it is quite fast and has no trouble keeping up with highway traffic at 75 m.p.h. I’d imagine this lightweight little truck has a pretty stout power-to-weight ratio.
I’m too young to have spent any time around the legendary Ford flathead V8. By the time I was old enough to pay attention to such things, Chevrolet power had become the coin of the hot rodding realm, with an occasional Ford 289 thrown in for a little variety. But let me tell you, the sound of a lightly muffled Ford flathead V8 is an aural delight. Had I known I would get such a sweet (sounding) dessert, I’d have skipped the scoop of ice cream.
I love it! I was just talking to a guy today at work about flatheads and how few people are still around that can work on them. This is a very unique and interesting collection of parts. What a cool ride.
Just yesterday, a hot-rod ’51 Ford coupe pulled out of Home Depot with the most delightful flathead brrrrapppp. I considered following him, but just couldn’t. It must be the siamesed exhaust ports on the middle cylinders that give it such a distinctive flatulent rhythm.
Definitely nice to see a flat head V8 powering it. The rear bed looks oddly short compared to the cab though.
I assume you’re referring to height, not length?
Considering that the bed “floor” is at the level of the top of the box, I’m guessing that the whole thing has been pushed down alongside the frame, rather than above it.
Actually, the bed length has been shortened a good 10 inches or so. You can see the cut coming straight up from the wheel.
Welcome to the one kind of hot rod that: a. Gets my interest up, and b. Does not trigger my gag reflex. I really love the guys who build or restore a hot rod to exactly how they did it 50+ years ago. A small block Chevy hooked to an automatic is NOT a hot rod. It’s a mid life crisis poseur’s vehicle.
Ah somebody else who likes oldskool cars nice to see a proper rod that isnt a rat rod fake.
Have you been over to the H.A.M.B? Traditional is the name of the game, and the Flathead Ford V8 is almost as common as a SBC!
I always thought it was cool how the water pumps doubled as front engine mounts. The front-mounted distributors on the 1948 and older cars were a total pain to work on – for that reason alone a lot of guys went to 1949 or later motors. I had a built-up flattie in a 1948 Ford 2-door – I always kept it locked and with the inside hood latch it was quite a while before anyone saw the motor. It performed well enough that some guys thought I had an Olds Rocket in it. No, just a flathead with 283 cubic inches.
GASP!!! That looks like a generator!!! GOLLY NEDS!!! Could it still be 6 volts?
Probably. The owner also said that the headlights were from a Packard.
Wow. So this is what a real hot-rod looks like. I’ve never heard a Flathead running but would love to someday.
Count me in too! Never heard one running, let alone had the chance to look one over. Isn’t this the engine that Dillinger praised so highly in it’s get-away abilities? The Flathead Ford V-8 was also the engine that began the hot rod culture which gave way to the muscle car era and so on…….. I believe that Zora Arkus Duntov and his brother made the famous Ardun head for this engine, long before reaching fame as the Chief Engineer for the Corvette. What a famous engine!
I have heard flathead Ford V-8’s – they do have a distinctive baritone farting/rumble sound. I remember in high school auto shop there was a “donated” ’52 Customline Hardtop, which was actually pretty straight. Three-on-the-tree and a Flathead with the early ’50’s Ford “Oil Bath” air cleaner. Undoubtedly ruined by many novice hands pulling stuff off of it and attemtping to put it back on. San Rafael High School shared the facilities with the Marin County Vocational School guys so these donor cars spent about 12 hours a day, Monday through Saturday gettng abused by high school kids with gorilla paws (like me).
Flatties still have a huge following at Bonneville in both racers and cars in the parking lot. Maybe I’ll do an all-flathead Bonneville posting.
Before being displaced by Cad and Olds OHV V8s, the moonshiner engine builders were said to be developing 300+ hp from the Ford, or Mercury, flathead.
Maybe sound files could be added to these posts with a minute of engine sounds. Maybe?
I’ve driven three cars with ford v8 flatheads, one studebaker champion, one merc, and one IHC six. I always felt they were understressed and made to last a long time if you didn’t cook them..
I have a different view on hot rodding. This story represents what was hot rodding. Old fat bald guys like me with crate motors and trannies in their “done by someone else” cars are not hot rodders. Hot rodders take what they have and improve it. I have a lightweight 87 nissan truck that will probably get an organ donation from something. That might make me a hot rodder but I doubt it and I will probably irritate many of you now.
I think todays hot rodder is probably a kid with a laptop and a backwards ball cap. He’s driving something oriental and driving it faster than he should. He and his buddies work on his car and probably spend all their money and time on it. He is a genuine pain in the butt for us older guys and his car will not be featured in hot rod magazine. If not him, then the guy who built his own bike in his garage. We are captives of our generation and discount him. They will do the same when they are older.
Well said. It also seems many young people are very much more interested in digital electronics now that its cheap and ubiquitous. Hacking up a PC from cannibalised parts and installing a bleeding-edge OS like Haiku or something, and actually using that thing, counts right up there with rodding for me. Of course, for every hardware/software hacker, you have a dozen poseur geeks who buy the latest device on the market for `street-cred’, and fifty morons who’ll buy an Apple product and think they’re l33t `tech’ people.
You’ve just described my boyfriend and me. He uses a PC he built from other people’s trash and he loves it. I bought a (used) Mac. I think he is crazy for using that pile of junk, he thinks I’m crazy for buying a computer. We will never agree.
Same thing with our cars, really. He loves his old Volkswagen, I say its a screaming metal deathtrap. Perhaps I’m logical, perhaps I’m just a snob. Either way, I’m the one supplying the jump starts
Definitely agree with your take on the “modern hot rodder”.
Happily ;
there are still Hot Rodders out there ~ my Son is not only a Journeyman Mechanic but he’s un able to stop modifying every vehicle he owns o go faster & handle better then he dives the wheels off them and raced his daily drivers .
He likes my oldies but his cars are almost entirely modern ~ Subaru , Honda , Big assed Chevy Diesel pickup , all come under his hand , he mods each engine as far as it’ll go them gets a larger engine , rebuilds and modifies it and goes forward…
All at home in his dinky little 1948 Garage .
-Nate